--- title: 2026 Funded Research Teams Announcement description: "2026 Funded Research Teams Announcement\nhttps://content.ndrp.org.au/2026-funded-research-teams-announcement" image: https://content.ndrp.org.au/hubfs/page%20image-1.png --- [![NDRP Main Logo](https://content.ndrp.org.au/hs-fs/hubfs/NDRP%20inline@4x.png?width=500&height=148&name=NDRP%20inline@4x.png "NDRP Main Logo")](https://www.ndrp.org.au/) # NDRP's 2026 Funded Research Teams #### What's on this page - [About the 2026 Funded Research](https://content.ndrp.org.au/2026-funded-research-teams-announcement#About) - [Read about the 10 projects that address safety of people with disability](https://content.ndrp.org.au/2026-funded-research-teams-announcement#safety) - [Read about the 6 projects working to help make communities accessible and inclusive](https://content.ndrp.org.au/2026-funded-research-teams-announcement#Accessible-Inclusive) - [Read about the 3 projects that help develop pathways to the elimination of restrictive practices](https://content.ndrp.org.au/2026-funded-research-teams-announcement#Pathways-to-the-elimination) - [Download the media release](https://content.ndrp.org.au/2026-funded-research-teams-announcement#Media-release) - [Learn more about the 2026 Funded Teams FAQs](https://content.ndrp.org.au/2026-funded-research-teams-announcement#FAQs) - [Submit a media enquiry](https://7aysmb.share-ap1.hsforms.com/26qfMUlMYTTqNVqA9VTvCWQ) ### About **Nineteen projects, led by and with people with disability, get underway from August to October 2026 and run for 12 months.** NDRP has awarded $4.92 million to 19 disability-led and inclusive research projects, selected from a highly competitive field of 176 applications requesting a combined $46.27 million. **Each of the awarded projects sit across three funding streams:** 1. Safety of people with disability, 2. Pathways to the elimination of restrictive practices, and 3. Accessible and inclusive communities. [**Read the 2026 Research Funding Guidelines and FAQs**](https://content.ndrp.org.au/2026-funded-research-teams-announcement?hsLang=en-au)   ![Mary Sayers Newsletter](https://content.ndrp.org.au/hs-fs/hubfs/NDRP%20Brand%20general/Staff/Mary%20Sayers%20Newsletter.png?width=154&height=154&name=Mary%20Sayers%20Newsletter.png) #### *"Research is stronger and more relevant when people with disability help set its direction, make decisions and lead the work."* ***NDRP CEO, Mary Sayers***   Seven of the recipient teams will continue to build on the co-design work NDRP funded in its first round of 2025. This research will move the ideas that were developed with people with disability into the next phase of research. ### - Read all about our funded teams below - ## Safety of people with disability Ten projects addressing safety risks people with disability face across housing, agriculture, health care, the justice system and community life. 1\. Hidden in Plain Sight: Culturally Responsive Continence Care for First Nations Women with Disability One in three people with disability experience incontinence, but there is little research and few resources tailored to First Nations women with disability. This project will listen to women, families, communities and service providers to identify priorities and inform culturally safe solutions.  Building on co-design funded through NDRP's first round, First Nations women with disability will lead the research with the Deaf Indigenous Community Consultancy. Jody Barney leads the project at the Deaf Indigenous Community Consultancy, with Alexandra Devine at the University of Melbourne, and partners with the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women's Council, the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Continence Nurses Australia, and Continence Health Australia.   2\. Co-Navigating our World: A Deafblind-Led Initiative to Codesign Improved Orientation and Mobility Services People with deafblindness consistently identify safe and independent mobility as a major challenge, yet orientation and mobility professionals receive little formal training in how to support deafblind people. Building on research co-designed through NDRP's first funding round, people with deafblindness will lead research into what Orientation and Mobility Specialists need to provide safe and effective support. Led by Meredith Prain at Able Australia and guided by deafblind peer-led organisations, the project brings together NextSense, Deafblind Victoria, Deafblind West Australians and the NSW Deafblind Community to strengthen professional training, policy and practice. 3\. Cultivating Safety for Persons with Disability in Agriculture Stage 2 Safety for people with disability in agriculture depends on systems working together. This project will identify gaps across the sector and develop practical solutions to improve safety, inclusion and access to meaningful work. Building on co-design funded through NDRP's first round, the project is led by lived-experience researcher Josie Clarke, in a partnership between Ability Agriculture and CQUniversity, to bring together farmers, people with disability, rural health professionals and industry bodies. Nigel Corish, a farmer with disability, co-chairs the project's research meetings alongside Josie. 4\. Sometimes I'm too Safe: Exploring the Dignity of Risk with Adults with Intellectual Disability Stage 2 ***, Phase** **2***  Adults with intellectual disability want to make choices, take part in everyday life and learn from experience, but a strong focus on safety can sometimes limit these opportunities. This project will explore how duty of care can be balanced with dignity of risk, helping inform safer and more enabling support. Building on co-design funded through NDRP's first round, the project is led by Rhonda Faragher at the University of Queensland. Researchers with intellectual disability will lead fieldwork across metropolitan, regional and rural Australia, working with researchers with and without disability to gather views from people with disability and those who support them.  5\. Safe Homes: Evidence on Individualised Support for Policy Impact Many people with intellectual disability and complex support needs experience violence, harm, trauma and restrictive practices in group homes. This project will evaluate whether individualised "service-for-one" arrangements, where people directly employ their own support workers using NDIS funding, provide safer, better and more cost-effective outcomes than group homes. Building on co-design funded through NDRP's first round, the project is led by Tess Bright at the University of Melbourne, in partnership with Inclusion Australia, with researchers from UNSW, Deakin University and the University of Queensland. People with lived experience of disability are involved as researchers and leaders throughout, helping to guide the research, interpret findings and inform project decisions.   6\. Nothing without Us:  A Disability-Led Research Priority-Setting Study for People with Intracranial Hypertension in Australia  ***A Disability-Led Research Priority-Setting Study for People with Intracranial Hypertension in Australia*** People living with intracranial hypertension (IH) in Australia often experience fragmented healthcare, limited access to disability and community supports, and few opportunities to influence the research that affects their lives. This project will support people with IH to identify what gets in the way of safety and wellbeing, including gaps in coordinated multidisciplinary healthcare and access to the supports needed to manage everyday life. Led by Dr Kelly Moes, in partnership with IH Australia, the project brings together a small group of community members to identify priority issues, share lived experience and determine what future research should focus on. People with IH co-lead the research process and guide its findings, ensuring the project reflects lived safety concerns, unmet needs, and priorities for better care and support. 7\. Relationships, Sexuality, Rights & Safety: Co-Designing and Co-Producing a Program for People with Intellectual Disability and Autistic People People with intellectual disability and autistic people can face barriers to accessing accessible, trusted information and support about relationships, sexuality, consent, safety and their rights. This project will co-design and test a practical program grounded in the priorities of people with intellectual disability and autistic people, covering relationships and connection, sexuality, consent and safety, online safety, health and wellbeing, and rights and inclusion. Building on co-design with 15 young people with intellectual disability and autistic young people, the project will work with Co-Hive and Self Advocacy Sydney to co-design, pilot and evaluate the program. It will produce practical, accessible and freely available resources that disability organisations across Australia can use to support people to make informed choices, understand their rights and navigate relationships and sexuality. 8\. What Children with Disability Can Teach Us About Safeguarding in Playgroups Young children with disability may face a greater risk of harm, but their views, communication needs and experiences are often missing from the way services plan for children's safety. This project will work with children with disability aged three to eight, their families and playgroup staff to understand what helps children feel safe, included and able to speak up. Led by Vicky Saunders at the Australian Catholic University's Institute of Child Protection Studies, in partnership with ACT Playgroups, the project brings together children, young people and adults with disability, families and playgroup staff to co-design the research and the resources it produces. Children with disability and their families help guide the research, while people with disability contribute to decisions about how the project is carried out, how findings are interpreted and how resources are developed and tested. 9\. Co-Design and Validation of a Community-Led Reintegration and Safety Model for People with Disability at System Transition Points People with disability can face increased risk when moving between systems or when essential supports break down, including when leaving hospital, the justice system or homelessness services. These risks can be greater for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability and people living in regional and rural communities, where services may be fragmented or difficult to access. This project is a collaboration between the University of the Sunshine Coast and The Third Place Community Inc” Lead by Michele Verdonck (UniSC), Denise Wood (UniSC) and Ty Hardin (The Third Place Community Inc). This project will work with people with disability, community organisations, disability service providers and other stakeholders to identify where risks and gaps occur and co-design a practical community-led reintegration and safety model. Through interviews, focus groups and workshops, people with lived experience help design a model to improve coordination between services and communities, reduce harm and strengthen support during critical transition points. 10\. BlakAbility: Barriers Beyond Bars Indigenous people with disability often experience disability that is unrecognised, misunderstood or punished across the criminal justice system, contributing to significant harm for individuals, families and communities. Building on co-design funded through NDRP's first round, this project will work with Indigenous people with disability to better understand these experiences and strengthen the evidence needed to support responses based on recognition, support and care rather than punishment and confinement. Led by Indigenous researchers with lived experience of disability, the project is guided by Associate Professor Sheelagh Daniels-Mayes and co-led by Aunty Dr Roslyn Sackley, in partnership with researchers, cultural brokers and Indigenous people with disability. The project uses culturally grounded and relationship-based approaches that help people feel safe, respected and understood, with cultural brokers guiding engagement and supporting accessible communication.   ## Accessible & Inclusive Communities 6 projects working to make services, public spaces and community life more inclusive. 1\. Embedding Peer Support and Community Capacity Building People with disability and family members from refugee backgrounds face significant barriers accessing disability and other community supports and services, and often experience limited opportunities to participate in community and cultural life. This project will work with people with disability and family members who have settled in Australia on Humanitarian Visas to increase awareness of available supports and create pathways for greater participation and inclusion. Building on co-design funded through NDRP's first round, Angela Dew at Deakin University leads the project, partnering with people with disability, family members, service providers, and local government to co-design peer support groups, cultural safety training, and practical resources. People with disability and family members help decide how the peer support groups operate and contribute directly to the development of training. 2\. Playing Together  **Creating moments of social connection in hospital care through digital play** Young people who are neurodivergent or have disability can experience social isolation, particularly when receiving hospital care. This project will pilot and evaluate a safe, supported online Minecraft program at The Royal Children's Hospital to promote authentic social connections, a sense of belonging, and positive engagement with hospital settings. Led by Jess Rowlings at the University of Melbourne, the research team has lived experience of neurodivergence and disability and will work with children, young adults with disability, families and hospital staff to co-design and evaluate the program. Young adults with lived experience are employed as Minecraft session facilitators, and children and facilitators help guide the research and develop practical recommendations. 3\. Children as Changemakers in Public Libraries Children with disability are often excluded from research and decisions about the places and services they use. This project will work alongside children with disability in regional communities to understand what makes public places welcoming, accessible and inclusive for all children. Kathy Cologon leads the project, partnering with children, families, Bathurst Library and other regional NSW libraries, community organisations and First Nations stakeholders. Through creative and accessible workshops, children share experiences and ideas through drawing, storytelling, photography, Braille, Auslan and other forms of communication that work for each child. Children help guide the research, findings and resources through project workshops and an ongoing Children's Advisory Group. 4\. (Re)discovering Music Australia Music is an important part of everyday life, yet many people with hearing loss face barriers to meaningful music participation. This project will develop practical approaches to support deaf and hard-of-hearing children, adolescents and adults to engage with and enjoy music throughout their lives, and explore its role in clinical care. The project is coordinated by Felicity Bleckly, an early-career researcher who uses a cochlear implant and has firsthand experience of rediscovering music after hearing loss, with Chi Yhun Lo as project lead at Macquarie University. Working with people who use hearing devices, families, clinicians, educators and community partners including the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Hearing Australia, NextSense, The Shepherd Centre and Parents of Deaf Children, the project will identify and promote inclusive and accessible pathways that enable more people with hearing loss to reconnect with music. 5\. The CARE-ALIGN Toolkit to Build Practitioner Capability Autistic adults experience high rates of mental health challenges, yet many report that mental health services do not fully understand or meet their needs. This project will create practical resources that help practitioners deliver more accessible, respectful and effective mental health care for autistic adults. Led by Jessica Paynter at Griffith University, with a partnership of autistic and neurodivergent researchers, mental health practitioners and academic experts, the project builds on years of co-designed research and lived experience. Autistic people guide every stage of the work, from refining priorities to developing, testing and sharing a freely available toolkit. 6\. From Barriers to Belonging South Asian women with disability can face overlapping barriers related to disability, gender, culture, language and migration, and their lived experiences and ideas are often missing from the design of disability services, community programs and policies. This project will work with South Asian women with disability to understand what helps or prevents people from feeling included, safe and connected in their communities. Co-led by a community leader with lived experience of disability and a parent-carer of a young adult with disability, and based at Deakin University, the project brings together South Asian women with disability, disability services, multicultural organisations and governments, in partnership with the Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria and Women with Disabilities Victoria. South Asian women with disability hold paid leadership roles as co-designers, advisers and members of a lived-experience leadership group, with genuine decision-making authority throughout the project. ## Pathways to the elimination of restrictive practices 3 projects building the evidence base to reduce and end the use of restrictive practices 1\. Surviving Restrictive Practices: The Experiences of People with Disability Restrictive practices can cause lasting harm, yet there is limited research on how people with disability experience these practices across their lives. This project will use inclusive interview methods to support people with disability to reflect on the impacts of restrictive practices, including how past experiences continue to affect their safety, rights and wellbeing. Led by Dinesh Wadiwel at the University of Sydney, the project brings together people with lived experience, Inclusion Australia and People with Disability Australia. Findings will help centre the voices of people who have experienced restrictive practices and provide evidence and resources to support efforts to reduce and eliminate their use. 2\. From Restriction to Relational Safety: ***Understanding and Transforming Pathways Affecting First Nations Women Living with Disability in Justice*** First Nations women with disability who experience the justice system can encounter restrictive practices across multiple systems and services, yet their experiences and perspectives are largely absent from the evidence used to inform policy and practice. The project recognises that restrictive practices do not occur in isolation, but can result from interactions between disability, justice, health and other service systems. Led by Professor Kelly Menzel at the Burnet Institute and grounded in cultural governance and self-determination, the project brings together First Nations women with disability and justice system experience, researchers, community organisations and service partners, including The Torch, Flat Out and Western Health Drug Health Services. First Nations women with lived experience provide leadership throughout the project, guiding the research questions, interpretation of findings and development of recommendations. 3\. Building Family Advocacy to Reduce and Eliminate Chemical Restraint Many children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are given medicines to manage behaviours of concern, even though these medicines often do not address the underlying causes of a child's distress. This project will work with people with disability, families, doctors and support providers to better understand why these medicines are used and identify practical ways to reduce and ultimately eliminate the use of chemical restraint. Led by Erin Leif at Monash University, and building on the vital role families play in protecting their children's rights and advocating for safer alternatives, the project brings together people with disability, families and professionals to develop practical resources that strengthen family knowledge, confidence and involvement in decision-making. ## Learn more... About Disability Leadership **What does disability-led research mean?** Disability-led research gives people with disability meaningful authority over the direction and delivery of research. This can include leading research teams, making governance decisions, collecting and analysing evidence, and determining how findings are shared and applied. It recognises lived experience as essential expertise, not simply a source of consultation. **How are people with disability involved?** People with disability are involved in leading, governing, designing and delivering the funded research. Their lived experience can help determine the research questions, methods, priorities and intended outcomes. Each project has its own leadership and governance arrangements. These may include researchers with disability, peer-led organisations, community partners, advisory groups and paid research roles for people with disability. **How is disability leadership embedded within NDRP?** NDRP is co-led by people with disability. Disability leadership informs its governance, research agenda, funding decisions and approach to building research capacity. NDRP also involves people with disability in assessing research proposals and shaping how funded research is conducted and shared.  **What is NDRP’s role in Australia’s disability research system?** NDRP invests in research by and for people with disability, builds disability research leadership and capability, and supports evidence to inform policy and practice. Our role is to help create a more inclusive research system in which lived experience is recognised as essential expertise and informs meaningful policy solutions, supporting progress on *Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031.* About how to use Co-Design **What is co-design?** Co-design is a collaborative process in which people affected by an issue help define the problem and develop the research approach and potential solutions. Effective co-design involves people with disability early, gives them genuine influence over decisions and recognises their contribution through appropriate support and payment. **Why invest in co-design before funding larger research projects?** Early co-design helps research teams identify the questions that matter to people with disability and develop approaches that are accessible, relevant and grounded in lived experience. It can also strengthen partnerships between people with disability, community organisations, researchers, policymakers and service providers before larger research begins. About the continuing research from 2025 **Which projects are continuing from the first round in 2025?** Seven projects continue to build on co-design funded through NDRP’s inaugural 2025 round. These projects are moving into a more substantial phase of research based on questions and approaches developed with people with disability. This demonstrates how early investment in co-design can create a strong foundation for relevant, inclusive and practical research. 1. Hidden in plain sight: Culturally responsive continence care for First Nations women with disability 2. Co-Navigating Our World: A deafblind-led initiative to codesign improved Orientation and Mobility services 3. Cultivating Safety for Persons with Disability in Agriculture Stage 2 4. Sometimes I’m too safe. Exploring the dignity of risk with adults with intellectual disability. Phase 2 5. Safe Homes: Evidence on individualised support for policy impact 6. BlakAbility: Barriers Beyond Bars About the Project Outcomes and Impact **What practical difference will the projects make?** The projects aim to produce evidence, tools and approaches that can improve policy, services and practice. Intended outcomes include safer services and living arrangements, more culturally responsive care, better professional training, reduced use of restrictive practices, and more accessible and inclusive communities. **How does the funding support government policy?** The funding supports the objectives of *Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031*, including improving safety, rights, inclusion and community participation. It will build evidence that can help governments, services and communities make better-informed decisions. **How will findings be shared?** NDRP will support research teams to share findings in accessible formats with people with disability, communities, policymakers, practitioners and service providers. Each project will develop an approach suited to its participants, audiences and research outcomes. **Learn more about the funding and assessment process here:** https://content.ndrp.org.au/2026-disability-research-funding-apply    #### [Download the full media release here (PDF)](https://content.ndrp.org.au/hubfs/FINAL%20NDRP%20Media%20Release%202026%2010%2013-1.pdf?hsLang=en-au) [![NDRP inline reverse white@2x](https://content.ndrp.org.au/hs-fs/hubfs/NDRP%20Brand%20general/NDRP%20inline%20reverse%20white@2x.png?width=997&height=297&name=NDRP%20inline%20reverse%20white@2x.png "NDRP inline reverse white@2x")](https://www.ndrp.org.au/) --- [Privacy Policy](https://www.ndrp.org.au/about/privacy-policy) © 2025. All rights reserved.